What is in this article?:

• The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has deemed wild hogs in the state to be an "ecological disaster" and the destructive nature of this invasive species easily lends itself to such a description.

• The answer to the crop destructive nature of these animals is yet to be found.6

More About:

WILD HOGS have become a major problem for farmers along South Carolina’s Congaree River.

Hunting pressure not the answer

Hunting pressure is definitely not the answer says Davis, who has worked with Calhoun County farmers since peanuts became popular to eradicate the pigs. Hunting pressure, he explains, has forced these animals into becoming mostly nocturnal. They have an excellent sense of smell and good eyesight, so feeding at night has been an easy transition, Davis adds.

The Extension Specialist says hunting wild pigs has become a cottage industry along the Congaree. A few farmers have capitalized on the rapid rise in wild pig populations and rent out their land for night hunts. Others provide dogs to track and run wild pigs for hunters.

Neither night hunting or hunting with dogs during the day has made much impact on pig numbers along the Congaree River Valley.

Hunting pigs with a rifle and/or dogs makes lots of noise, Davis explains. Hunters can shoot one pig and the others are gone. With plenty of room to roam and plenty of crops for food, they can easily relocate to another area, then come back when the hunters are gone.

Wannamaker has invited hunters with federally approved silencers for their rifles. This allows night hunters to shoot more than one pig at a time, but still doesn’t seem to be making much difference, the South Carolina grower says.

“We have trapped wild pigs, put a camera on them to determine when they feed at night, so hunters will have a better chance of finding them in a peanut field. After one time of shooting the pigs, they changed the whole time they come out and feed. They just adapt really well to the environment, Wannamaker adds.

The onset of peanut production also increased the amount of irrigation being used in South Carolina crops, another factor in the population increase some contend.

“In the past these pigs would come out and feed and go back to the river for water. With irrigation, there is plenty of water, so they don’t have to move as much. Unless they are threatened, they will stay in and around a peanut field all year, Wannamaker notes.

Wild pigs reproduce at a prodigious rate, sometimes producing litters of piglets twice a year. They directly compete with native wildlife for food and they can negatively impact natural ecosystems.

Hogs present problems related to land, wildlife, and timber management. They can cause significant damage to agriculture and pose disease risks to humans, as well as, domestic livestock.

These animals have proven to be extremely difficult to control once they become established. They are not protected in South Carolina and there is no closed season or bag limit on private land.

Over the last few years in order to slow the spread of hogs in South Carolina, the General Assembly has made it illegal to release hogs into the wild or to remove a live hog from the wild without a permit.

Additionally, the DNR has instituted special hunts for wild hogs on Wildlife Management Areas where they occur. Despite the increased focus, farmers contend the problem is getting worse, not better in some areas of the state, including along the Congaree River.

Though peanut farmers seem to have the biggest crop losses from wild pigs, they are by no means alone in their quest to get rid of these animals.

South Carolina has 90,000 to 280,000 wild hogs, according to Jack Mayer, a feral-swine expert at the Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, S.C. All 46 South Carolina counties have wild pig populations.

"We don't have a good handle on the actual population," he said. "We say there are 2,000,000-6,000,000 wild hogs nationally. That's a pretty big spread. The truth is we don't really know how many of them there are," Mayer says.

Discuss this Article 7

Anonymous (not verified)

on Nov 19, 2011

dnr says "ecological disaster"yet yet in game zone 2 they cut our season on doggin hogs from 3mon.to 2 weeks.and limited the # of dogs we can use to a total of 4.this includes all wildlife management areas and army corp lands.this land has lots of hogs.we dispatched 8 in one morning by 10:30.my group and 2 others i know took aprox.175 hogs out of the picture in 2010.these #s will drop with the changes dnr has made.the hogs will have 353 days a year to breed and raise their young on this dnr governed property.they seem to think still hunters will take care of them.they very rarely even see one.except when thy are turning them loose on their clubs.so they can shoot them in the summer.so while dog hunters are disriminated against the population will explode.good luck.

Hello ,I dont agree with the statement , that hunting is not the answer . I use dogs to catch the hogs and no gun to kill them , we use a knife to take care of this . By not useing a gun you increase your chances of not running the hogs off before you can get your dogs on them . We have plenty of dogs and men to get it done . We can take up to six to ten hogs a day . We donot charge for this and will give you all the hog meat that you might want . We also use dogs that do not bark on trail , allowing them to get close before the hogs even know were close . If you have hogs and want them gone , please e mail me or call me at 8438165930 , thank you .

My name is David and I am planning a hog hunt for myself and two other people this month, mid month. We are located in Charleston, and we plan on baiting and shooting a few hogs. We are very respectful people with a respect for the land and others. If you have land with a hog problem and would not mind if we used your land to hunt them, please call or email me and leave a message so I can call you back. We are all grown adults and practice safety. We will provide a signed liability waver stating that the land owner is not responsible for our safety or actions, this is for piece of mind. My email is tvidavid@gmail.com and my phone number is 765-623-9759, call or email anytime day or evening. Thanks.

Group of 3 adult men looking for land to hunt wild hogs on this month. We are responsible and practice safety. We will be bait and hunting them from stands or stocking with bow. We will provide a signed liability waiver for piece of mind to land owner. Please call or email me anytime day or night if you will allow us to use your land and you have a hog problem. Dave 765-623-9759 tvidavid@gmail.com

hey guys this is vong im on here looking to help farmer with hog problem or people with land......i have 4 guys with me to hunt them down we could hunt all day and night if u what us too....please call or email me at anytime and any day.....my email is lee_boi1@yahoo.com and phone is 7043107219